This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Celebrity tribute overkill at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.—“This is overwhelming,” said Michael Keaton, the Oscar-nominated star of Birdman during a two-hour love-in at the Arlington Theatre the other night, featuring tributes from Andie MacDowell, Danny DeVito and Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (in person) as well as Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall and Winona Ryder (on video).

This was a big night at the 30th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. And the tributes from Keaton’s friends, co-stars and collaborators ranged from witty and insightful to gushing and routine.

“I think I’m going to pass out,” quipped the talented and likable object of this adulation, who wore a black suit, checked shirt and black tie while being feted and given what has now been renamed, in honour of the night’s presiding moderator, the Leonard Maltin Modern Masters Award.

The audience was enthusiastic throughout a long evening and forgiving when Keaton, answering Maltin’s questions, occasionally rambled incoherently.

And nobody mentioned the bad news that might indeed cause a leading Oscar nominee to feel overwhelmed and even pass out. At the Screen Actors Guild awards a week earlier, what had been considered Keaton’s sure-thing march to Best Actor Oscar honours was brought to a sudden halt when Eddie Redmayne got an upset win for his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Santa Barbara festival had that base covered as well. Redmayne was the recipient of another celebrity tribute on the same stage just 48 hours before Keaton’s big night. He and his Theory co-star, Felicity Jones, received the Cinema Vanguard Award.

Indeed, celebrity tributes trump movie screenings at the Santa Barbara festival. True, there are more 200 movies on view and many of them are premieres, usually with a Q&A afterward. But what sets Santa Barbara apart from other festivals is its time slot, late January and early February, and its proximity to Los Angeles.

The festival’s growing list of awards and tributes turns out to be a mutual admiration society. Oscar nominees and the publicity machines behind them are perfectly delighted to take advantage of an easy opportunity to advance campaigns aimed squarely at Oscar night on Feb. 22.

And Roger Durling, who seems never to have encountered a Hollywood star he doesn’t worship and adore, has put his stamp on the festival by ramping up these tributes since taking over the job of festival executive director a decade ago.

There is no question that Keaton deserves the acclaim he is getting for his thrilling performance in Birdman. After his earlier hits, including Night Shift, Mister Mom and Beetlejuice, Birdman has reignited his career at age 63. The clips from many earlier movies were very enjoyable. And who doesn’t love a comeback story?

But instead of being a stop on the way to an ultimate triumph at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Oscar night, this Santa Barbara tribute could mark the end of the awards-seasons road for Keaton. He won a Golden Globe and was chosen by many critics as Best Actor of the year. But the Screen Actors Guild result makes Redmayne the favourite to take the Best Actor statuette.

The Santa Barbara honour would be more significant if it weren’t just one item on a stupefyingly long list of tributes. If there were an award for Celebrity Tribute Overkill of the year, Durling would be the winner.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

“For your consideration,” as the saying goes from Oscar campaign promoters, here are just some of the other names in the lineup of award recipients at this year’s festival:

The Attenborough Award for Excellence in Nature Filmmaking goes to the Cousteau family, including Jean-Michel, son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, his daughter Celine and son Fabien.

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com